iPad Mini Starting at $329

iPad Mini is $329, iPad 2 is $399.  Did Apple price the mini too high to compete effectively against the Nexus, Kindle, and Nook?  Will you buy a Mini?

How Much For An iPad Mini?

Today is the big day.  The iTunes Store is down, the Apple devotees are waiting, and in a few hours the announcement will confirm what has been buzzing for months.  The release of a smaller version of the iPad.  But at what price?  "The Kindle Fire starts at $159, and the Nexus 7 at $199. Meanwhile, Apple sells the iPad 2 for $399 and the 4-inch iPod Touch for $199. Company watchers are pegging the price of the smaller iPad somewhere in between."    Will the iPad Mini be priced at a comparable value as Nexus and compete on price with Amazon, or price itself a bit higher expecting that consumers may pay a bit more?

If the Apple magic can extend to the iPad Mini, it could become the next huge holiday gift.  But the price must be right.  And what else will be announced today; new laptop, revamped iTunes store, are all a possibility.  Even as we wait for the announcement, questions swirl as to the next product innovation for Apple, the next new piece of hardware that we must buy and own.  Apple has struck gold with the iPod, iPhone, and iPad.  Will an Apple TV be next or something else?  Stay tuned.

Dish Settles And Former Cablevision Networks Relaunch

It seemed to take the threat of a witness stand to put the final nail into a case and cause Dish to settle with Cablevision.  Cablevision clearly won as Dish will pay a settlement fee and relaunch all of the AMC Networks, including AMC, WE, and Sundance, as well as finally launch the Fuse Network.  And as both sides begin to play nice again, the rancorous feelings between both companies and their respective leaders has most probably not subsided. Publicly, both sides are saying nice things, using the old expression, "it's just business, not personal".  But it is hard to believe that is true.

For Dish, the win may be that the $2.4 billion suit was settled for $700 million and saving four months of not paying for these channels.  For Cablevision, it was a recoup of some of the loss of Voom and to regain a healthy number of subscribers across its networks.  And for now, one more fight between network and distributor has ended; no worries though, another should begin again as we get closer to the end of the year and another contract is set to expire.

Sprint Intends To Be A Player

It's amazing what a little cash can do for a company.  Softbank's investment into Sprint has enabled Sprint to take a majority ownership in Clearwire.  "Clearwire’s spectrum is crucial to planned high-speed upgrades to Sprint’s network."  Certainly the plan is to build the widest, most efficient next generation broadband communication system to rival its competitors, AT&T and Verizon.  As we become a nation requiring more access to wireless at the fastest speeds possible, a leap like this could propel Sprint well forward and continue to force its competitors to hasten its capital expenditures to manage an increasing demand.

With Softbank, a Japanese owned investment group with businesses in mobile and fixed communication, Sprint becomes an international player as well.  The world becomes a smaller and smaller place as companies entrench themselves, not only in the US, but across the globe.  We do indeed live in interesting times.

For Newsweek, The Digital Switch Turns Quickly

In a changing media landscape, transitioning becomes part timing, part luck, part skill, and part intuition.  No change is deemed right or wrong until after the fact when we look back and see who has survived and who has fallen.  Across industries, the past is littered with brands and companies that couldn't adapt to change  and are no longer in business.  For print, the media landscape is changing rapidly from physical to digital as consumers embrace tablet and mobile technology.

Gannett has  taken one path to the digital transition, embracing a subscription paywall as a means to increase its digital subscriber base and improve revenues.  At the same time, they continue to print and sell print subscriptions.  For Newsweek, now under the control of Barry Diller and IAC, is to pull the bandage off quickly.  "The last print edition in the U.S. will be the Dec. 31 issue, Tina Brown, editor-in-chief and founder of The Newsweek Daily Beast Company, said today on the company’s website. The all-digital publication, to be called Newsweek Global, will require subscriptions and will be available on tablet computers and on the Web, Brown said."  Cost to print and mail drop effectively to zero although revenues are also expected to drop.  Most significantly felt will be the loss of single issue sales off newsstands.

Can a leaner, meaner Newsweek survive as a digital only weekly magazine?  Is such a quick transition the best course of action or does Gannett have a better strategy?  Such are the questions and challenges facing these two companies as well as others in the print media space.  Perhaps the answer lies in how well marketing can attract subscribers and how valuable the content is measured by the consumer.  Wherever one is led to get access, the hope of these companies follow the famous line from "Field of Dreams", "If you build it, they will come."

TiVo Seeks New Revenue Sources Through Litigation

Ideally, TiVo would be able to take its superior product and integrate into each and every cable operators cable box to create a world class cable DVR box.  But that has not happened as quickly as possible.  Especially as the top cable operator have done little to embrace TiVo.  Instead, new revenue has come from another source, lawsuits.  With wins and settlements, TiVo has been doing quite well.

The latest source for funds may just come from another lawsuit.  "TiVo Inc. said it may be entitled to billions of dollars in damages should it win its patent- infringement lawsuit against Google Inc.’s Motorola Mobility unit over digital-video recording technology." Should this fight find a similar outcome as others, TiVo will once again see a financial lift from litigation.

It is certainly nice to see that TiVo is working over time to protect its patents.  It simply needs to work equally as hard to get its products in the home.  Perhaps the outcome of this latest litigation is that Google and Motorola make TiVo the official DVR of its cable box.  Thus cable operators  using Motorola set top boxes will automatically be using TiVo.  Perhaps.

Pay Wall Working For Gannett

Gannett may just be turning the corner on its business model as it takes more and more revenue from the digital side of their business.  With digital subscription expected to rise 25% this year and digital ad revenue rising, it seems that Gannett is transitioning well from a print to digital business.  "Digital 'now represents more than 25 percent of total revenues,' CEO Gracia Martore said in a statement accompanying the earnings release."  It is likely that as more effort is made to build out the digital model, costs can be reduced in the print model to build out a healthy profit margin.  Exciting times ahead.

Are Newspaper Paywalls Working?

One thing is clear, the success of media, be it cable, print, or radio, rests with multiple revenue streams.  As companies demand more and more return for their investment, a single ad sales model has a hard time generating investor interest than one that relies on revenue from subscription, e-commerce, and other streams.  In today's digital world, newspapers especially have suffered as free content on the web has cost papers their subscription base.  But the cure, putting content behind a subscription service or paywall may be the cure.  As today's Wall Street Journal asks, are these paywalls working?

Investor mentality certainly reflects the improvements and future expectations of the digital business model. If today's earnings from Gannett are any indication, then an improvement in revenue because of an increase in paid digital subscribers will be welcome news of the success of the web subscription business  "The big risk of paywalls is that by restricting online audiences, newspapers can hurt their ability to sell online advertising. Until recently, that concern had prevented many publishers—other than those with market-moving financial information like The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times—from charging readers for online access."  But if the subscription model leads to a scalable business, then there is hope that the ad model also works.

Consumers are being asked more an more to pay for digital services.  Cable television, Sirius Radio, MLB online, Amazon Prime, Hulu Prime, Netflix, and others are pushing a paid subscription model.  Free on the web just doesn't financially work and the free ride of content may be harder and harder to offer.  We are getting more and more comfortable paying for digital content provided that it delivers for us a worthwhile value.  it is when we believe we are being charged to much, that we threaten with cord cutting.  And that opens the door for competition.

All I Want For Christmas Is An iPad Mini

Just in time for the holiday season.  That just might be some of the rational for the launch of the iPad Mini.  With a scheduled announcement date of Tuesday, October 23, iPad Minis may be on the shelf and ready for purchase for all those good little boys and girls.  Good news for consumers looking for something special to stuff in the stockings.  Of course there may be another reason Apple is announcing the launch of the Mini on October 23.  "It also happens to be just three days prior to the street date for Microsoft’s new Surface tablet and two days before Apple reports earnings for its latest quarter."  A great way to diffuse Microsoft's announcement; maybe too, to offset a not so spectacular quarter for Apple.